A mum who stole almost £90,000 from a businessman who was also her boyfriend to fund a gambling addiction while also heavily in debt has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Susan Adams, 52, was employed as a bookkeeper for Robert Scott’s two businesses — one specialising in joinery and kitchen fitting, and the other in home renovations.
Her role was to look after accounts which by Mr Scott’s own admission, he didn’t pay a great deal of attention to, Carlisle Crown Court heard today. She was trusted to look after payments of bills and suppliers, and ensure quarterly statements while her only permission was to withdraw her agreed wages.
At the time, in 2017, the pair also began a relationship. But in May, 2018, Mr Scott was alerted by his building society to funds in an account being down to £400 when he knew there should have been thousands.
“Mr Scott confronted Miss Adams. She admitted stealing money, telling him she had a problem with gambling,” said Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting.
Money had been taken out regularly with the theft totalling £88,719.86, attempts having been made to disguise the withdrawals by wrongly referencing some of Mr Scott’s suppliers. Adams had also taken out a Capital One credit card in his name and made a number of unauthorised payments for that from company coffers.
Interrogation of her own finances showed the majority of the stolen money was splashed on online gambling sites. “I’m guilty for taking the money,” Adams later stated while revealing she was £30,000 in arrears when the relationship began. “I didn’t know it was that much. He just trusted me. I broke his trust. I got myself into a complete mess.”
Adams, of Gray Street, Workington, admitted theft and fraud.
In an impact statement, Mr Scott said Adams had raided his pension pot, meaning he had to keep working six or seven days a week during the past four years.
He didn’t believe Adams “took the money for the money”, accepting instead she had a gambling addiction. Mr Scott believed it was important for Adams to be “taught a lesson” to prevent further offending, but said prison would not be fair on her teenage daughter, for the whom the defendant was a sole carer.
Judge Richard Archer noted a long period of time had passed since the theft. Adams was a woman of previous good character, hadn’t offended since and had sought assistance to kick the gambling habit. “She has not had a bet for a number of years,” said her lawyer, Sean Harkin.
Judge Archer suspended a 20-month jail term for 18 months and imposed a three-month, electronically monitored night time curfew.
“You knew that you were doing wrong,” said the judge. “You knew that you were doing wrong each and every time you went into Mr Scott’s bank account or applied for a credit card in his name or purported to pay suppliers, when money was being siphoned into accounts controlled by you.”
